- Cult Center:
Panopolis and Koptos
- Attributes:
In
early times Min was a sky-god whose symbol was a thunderbolt. His title
was Chief of Heaven. Well into the Middle Kingdom he was identified
with the falcon-god Haroeris (Horus the Elder). Above all, Min was worshipped by men as
a fertility god, a bestower of sexual powers. He was also seen as a
rain god that promoted the fertility of nature, especially in the
growing of grain.
During the Min
festivals
that celebrated the beginning of the planting season, we find
renderings of pharaohs ceremonially hoeing the ground and watering the
fields under the supervision of Min. Likewise at the Min festival that
marked the beginning of the harvest season, the pharaoh was seen
reaping the grain.
Despite his
fertility
associations, Min was also known as Lord of the Eastern Desert. In this
role he was the protector of the caravan routes from his cult center at
Koptos to the Red Sea. As the Lord of Foreign Lands he was the
protector of nomads and hunters.
- Representation: Min
was
pictured as an bearded, ithyphallic man, with his legs close
together. He wore two tall feathers, the same headdress that we find Amun wearing.
His arm is raised, holding a whip, or a thunderbolt. In the New Kingdom
he was represented as a white bull.
- Relations:
Son of Ra or of Shu.
- Other Names:
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